Candidates make Senate race no man's land

Published: Friday, October 16, 1998

SEATTLE (AP) - Democrat Patty Murray won election to the Senate running as a political outsider and promising to bring a woman's sensitivity to America's most exclusive fraternity, a winning formula that Republican Linda Smith is trying to co-opt.

Their race - only the third woman-vs-woman matchup in Senate history - would be lively regardless of gender.

It pits a liberal Democrat known as a quiet negotiator against an outspoken rebel often at odds with her own GOP leaders.

It also shows how difficult it is for any congressional contest this year to dodge the scandal surrounding President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinky.

Smith enjoys pointing out that Murray, who ran as a "mom in tennis shoes" in 1992, has been subdued in her reaction to Clinton's transgressions even though she once pounced on allegations of sexual misconduct against more conservative political figures like Sen. Bob Packwood and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Only twice before have two women squared off as major-party candidates for the same U.S. Senate seat. In 1960, Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, R-Maine, fended off Democratic challenger Lucia Cormier, and in 1986, Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., defeated Republican Linda Chavez.

No matter who prevails in the Smith-Murray race, the victor will stand out in the Senate, where men still predominate. Despite the "Year of the Woman" hype that propelled Murray and three other female newcomers into the Senate in 1992, today just nine of the nation's 100 senators are female.

"Given how few women there are in the Senate, I think it's a minor miracle to have even one woman-vs-woman contest," said Mary Hawkesworth, director of the Center for the American Woman in Politics at Rutgers University.

"Historically, parties have been most willing to allow a woman to run when they think it's a hopeless cause."

Female candidates are less of a novelty in Washington state. The Legislature here, where both Smith and Murray started in politics, now runs 39.5 percent female, more than in any other state.

Smith and Murray prove that all women candidates are not created equal, offering clear choices in both style and substance.

Murray follows the Democratic line on most votes and considers education a priority.

Critics say she has had a lackluster record of achievement, but Murray retorts that she prefers working quietly toward consensus rather than making waves.

Smith, 48, is proud of her unyielding stands. Just two inches taller than Murray but considerably more vocal, she cultivates her image as a maverick legislator who regularly runs afoul of the GOP brass.

She was one of a handful of Republicans who voted against Newt Gingrich's re-election as House Speaker, and she infuriates party leaders by calling for campaign finance reform and refusing contributions from political action committees.

Several recent polls give Murray a slight edge over Smith, but the campaign is just beginning in earnest as Congress lets out this weekend.